Are you among those who love to watch night sky ? Coming the first week of August and you will find Venus, Mars and Saturn in a triangle in the night sky.
You can easily locate Venus as it is bright and the other two planets will be close to it forming a triangle on August 5 .However, Mars and Saturn are not as bright as Venus. On July 31, you will find Mars just below Saturn.
People have always dreaded these planetary alignments as they found it bringing mis-fortune but there is no scientific evidence of this fear.
Graph to help you locate the planets on night sky on August 5.
A group of astronomers from University of Sheffield,UK,have discovered a star which is about 300 times more bigger than the Sun using a Very Large Telescope (VLT) .
The team of astronomers have found many stars which are seven times hotter, brighter and bigger than the Sun.
One of such star R136a1 which has been found in R136 cluster is the most massive star ever being found according to the research team and the most brightest one also. The star is more than a million year old and has lost lots of mass.The stars loose mass as they age. Scientists say that if R136a1 will be replaced By Sun then it can outshine Sun the same way Sun outshines the Moon.However it will make life IMPOSSIBLE on Earth as it releases high UV radiations.
Night sky fascinates me always and I think it fascinates to most of us. I often sit on my terrace during summer nights gazing at sky and the heavenly bodies up there.
Planet Antares is the red giant star and is said to be the 16th brightest star in the sky at night in the constellation Scorpio.Antares has also being nick named as “the Heart of the Scorpion”. Ancient astronomers have nick named it as the “rival of the Mars” as it resembles the Red Planet in color.
Brief history of Antares:
A German astrologer Bayer of 17th century said Antares as a Rebel and Tyrannus, Dutch scholar Grotius (1583-1645) said it means a Bat, in Arabic it means “Shone”, Rudolphine Tables says that Antares means “glowing redly”.
Some link Antares with an Arabic hero Antar or Antarah who was the bravest Arab warrior and a great poet of his time. He has written a poem "Ántara's Ode," where he talks about his lady love.
Star Antares, α scorpio according to the Arabic constellation means Al Kalb, the Heart, one of the fortunate stations.
The Chinese in their constellation have included sigma (σ) and tau (τ) on either side of Antares in which sigma (σ) is the most important.
For the Hindus it is α Antares , σ Antares and τ Antares for their nakshatra where the oldest is known as Ruddy which means from the color of Antares.
In ancient Egypt astronomy Antares represented the Goddess Selkit and the light coming from Antares played an important role in the ceremonies of the temple.
It is also seen as one of the 4 keys in the heavens Michael watcher of the East, Gabriel watcher of the South, Raphael Watcher of the North, Oriel (Antares) Watcher of the West.
Antares is referred to as fallen star and quarter guardian of the western gate in the religion of Stygheria.
Astrological influences of Antares on people are that it makes them tough and belligerent. It is of importance to those who work in military as it gives them courage to do daring tasks and help them to chart out strategies.Antares is associated with violent death of people in battle field or in law and is unfortunate for eyes.
Planet Antares said to be 700 times larger than Sun and is about 600 light years away from our planet Earth. The outer layer of Antares is very thin and a spaceship can easily pass through it. If you happen to get a view of Antares you will notice that the area round it has colorful clouds which are due to the fact that Antares is found in such a place where there are star forming clouds. NASA named Apollo 14 lunar module after Antares in 1971.
If you want to have a view of Antares then you May end is the right time as it is opposing the Sun and is visible for the whole night but you can’t see Antares during the end of November as it gets lost in the glare of the Sun.
Star Antares is found in the eastern sky in the early evening in the heart of the constellation Scorpion but you need a telescope to view it. You will find a red colored bright star beside the Moon.
Hubble Space telescope has discovered a planet which has a tail like a comet! HD 209458b planet is about 153 light years and was found in the year 2003.
Scientists have measured the gas coming out from the planet.
Scientists have used Hubble to find about the atmosphere of the planet as it crossed infront of its star.
European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft Rosetta has captured has captured the so called first close-up images of Asteroid Lutetia on this Saturday ie, 10th July.
The image is spectacular and it shows that the asteroid Lutetia has suffered many impacts as it is 4.5 billion old and the images reveal that it is heavily cratered and it is 75 miles long.
Scientists are taking these pics of Asteroid as "discovery of a new world"!
Could Asteroid Lutetia lead to a "discovery of a new world" only time will say.
There is going to be a solar eclipse on 11th July where you can expect a light show in skies of the South Pacific, southern Argentina and Chile.
It will be a rare solar eclipse as Moon will be passing between the Sun and Earth.
The eclipse will began at at sunrise about 435 miles southeast of the South Pacific island of Tonga, with the Moon's shadow moving toward the northeast before ending at sunset in South America.It will be a great view to see this eclipse on water as most of eclipse will be found in open water.
Don't ever try to watch this eclipse with your naked eye as it is quite harmful.However for a direct view of the Sun, you can use approved solar filter.
If you are the lucky one to view the eclispe :) then please do share your experience or pics if any!